European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 12, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Trekking in England far from the madding crowd quiet paths and Well kept gardens at Thomas hardys photos and Story by King Cruger Bureau Jack a Middle aged schoolteacher from said it Best i never knew that it was possible to see so much of a country moving through at 2 Mitchell made the observation after he and his wife had been hiking for nearly two weeks on walking Tours through two of England most Scenic the walks Are organized by an English outfit called the every year from late Spring through the end september it offers five Day with six nights accommodation rambles through the Tranquility of Rural i joined a group of about a dozen americans wayfarers makes a special pitch to the affluent american Market in the delightful Village of my fellow hikers had been on the move for the past three Days in Dorset while exploring that part of the country which the great English novelist and Thomas Hardy called they had rambled through the villages and rolling Hills of Wessex where Hardy had set his great novels far from the madding the mayor of the return of the native and Tess of the their Thomas hardys had begun on a sunday in the former roman town of the Caster Bridge of hardys novel that today is a Busy Market it was in his Max that Hardy wrote for 40 the next Day the wayfarers group stopped first at the tiny churchyard in Stansford where Hardy part of him at least is interred next to his first wife although hardys ashes Are in the poets Corner of London Westminster his heart is buried in the next Stop was a mile or so away in a dense Forest the quaint cottage in which Hardy was born at higher the area the group hiked through that afternoon is where Hardy roamed As a mondays hike had been about 13 it brought the group to the extraordinary thatched Village of Milton Abbas with its 14thcentury the Village was built More than 200 years ago at the whim of the local who thought the previous Village ruined the View from his Manor accommodation there was in an old world pub with wonderful wayfarers varies the kind of lodgings its hikers stay in so that they have different experiences of traditional English overnights May be spent in thatched Ivy Clad farmhouses or in rambling 18thcentury Manor houses with 20thcentury swimming the i was of a uniformly High not but quite the next Days ramble was across High Chalk Hills with neolithic earthworks and panoramic ending in the former coaching Village of Cerne on a Hillside near the the hikers saw where the turf had been Cut through almost years ago to expose the Chalk below in the shape of a 180foot giant thought to be Hercules brandishing a on the following Day they had had an exhilarating walk with endless panoramas of picture perfect Dorset and hardys Vale of the Little dairies with a midday picnic High on Batcombe they bedded Down in where i joined although wayfarers Tours Are for the reasonably they certainly Are not spartan morning departures Are at civilized times of around 8 or after a rib sticking typical English breakfast of juice and our group was joined by its Jovial Michael one of wayfarers three the 42yearold West is a former London travel agent who specialized in putting together incentive Tours for clients around the three years ago he tired of the rat race and established wayfarers along with two like minded Chris an and Peter a former business has grown Ever since and wayfarer group crowds the churchyard where Hardy is wayfarers has plans to establish a similar series of walks through Ireland in West and Hague Lead the hiking Tours and Clifford takes care of the organizational Side of the one of the great things about wayfarers hikes Are not required to lug Luggage along with the baggage is hauled separately from one overnight Stop to the next and transport is always available for those who wish to skip a Days walk or Cut it West this for we will be doing a lot of up and Down hiking and that older couple Over there indicating a retired gent from Kentucky and his wife will be skipping the walk and instead will tour some Lovely gardens nearby and then will join us at noon for a pub although hikers dont have to haul their gear across the they do have to make decisions about How to Best outfit themselves for the some opt for hiking boots to protect against a turned ankle from the rough while others go for lightness and hike in jogging i opted for the although we averaged about 10 Miles per Day typical for a wayfarer i developed no blisters and Only a few sore i would strongly advise wearing lightweight boots for provided they had been broken English weather can Only be counted on to be you can be sure its going to rain at some time during the walk wayfarers have Light weight weather proofs available for i hiked with wests group one Day and with Hagues the the participants were a mixed lot of Friendly people who had no apparent common Bond except a love of walking and the some of them were Little acquainted with but that hardly mattered for the hiking was the not the literary who were the hikers a professor of engineering from his wife and their Coll Geage a few retired a woman from California and her three sons who ranged in age from 14 to a couple of secretaries and some schoolteachers All of them what we get Are extremely Nice people who Are not but who enjoy the outdoors and Good explained West As we hiked along a Road that had been overgrown some 50 years what we dont get Are what i would Call car Salesman loud what is a leisurely stroll for West and both in terrific shape from May be Tough going for someone in poor condition since some of the walking is across often Steep last summer a Golden agers club from with All its hikers aged 70 or hiked with West for two weeks and no one dropped out not even its oldest a gent of just keep in mind that this is not a leisurely but fairly Tough what wonderful walking it is England and Wales Are blessed with Miles of Public footpaths formed Over the centuries by the tramp of people and their it is along these that wayfarers make their the footpaths reveal a wealth of wildlife and Plant life As Well As glimpses of Lovely scenery through gateways and Over always West and Hague Are there with a commentary on the history of the area or the uses for the exotic plants that Are Seldom Are other hikers besides hardys Dorset which ends at Lyme wayfarer Tours afford a close look at Rural the English Channel town where the the French lieutenants was wayfarers also offers other walks James Herriot Yorkshire the moors and villages made famous in the books by the renowned veterinary a cotswolds Way Rural England at its most a pilgrims Progress a walk linking the three great Cathedral cities of Winchester and plus a Nowan again on Day the Cost of each weeks walk is 330 pounds about and includes six nights accommodation English pub lunch or picnic and dinner commencing with dinner on sunday and ending with breakfast on saturday transportation of baggage and resting walkers tips and for More Contact the 22 Mattravers West Sussex bn18 9bu Telephone 0903 the Tours average 10 Miles per Day but at a leisurely 14 the stars and stripes August the stars and stripes Page 15